Triple Crown Productions:

Thomas H. Meeker

Kenneth Noe, Jr.

Joseph A. De Francis

Ed Seigenfeld

khplogo.gif (4494 bytes)

Twenty-five years ago the nation witnessed a Triple Crown trail unlike any before as a big red colt named Secretariat stormed to the first championship in 25 years, smashing records in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. His Belmont Stakes victory was a race that will be talked about for generations. He ran away from the secweb1z.jpg (15705 bytes)

field, winning all alone by 31 lengths in a record time that, along with the Derby time, still stands a quarter of a century later.

Today, as the racing world celebrates the 25th anniversary of that victory, a prestigious national committee has been formed to raise money for a life-size bronze of Secretariat done by Ed Bogucki. The bronze shows Secretariat as he danced to the winner's circle at Churchill Downs on May 5, 1973, lead by his longtime groom Eddie Sweat with jockey Ron Turcotte in the irons. It will be placed at the Kentucky Horse Park so that generations to come will be able to see the legendary Secretariat at his athletic peak as he stirred the nation with his incredible feats on the racetrack.

Bogucki, an internationally renowned sculptor, is no stranger to the racing world. His life-size bronze of the battle between John Henry and The Bart in the inaugural running of the Arlington Million is at the Arlington International secweb2z.jpg (17384 bytes) Racecourse in Chicago, Illinois. His bronzes and paintings are in museums and private collections around the world.

He began the Secretariat bronze, in a smaller version, after visiting Secretariat at Claiborne Farm in the summer of 1989, just months before his death on October 4. Photographs, videotapes, sketches and measurements were collected to be used in conjunction with older photos to capture the horse in prime racing condition.

Bogucki wanted to include Sweat in the bronze after finding a particularly moving photo during his research. It was a picture of a young man sitting upon a low wall at Claiborne, waiting for a ride home. He appeared to be crying. The young man was Sweat, Secretariat's groom, who had come to Claiborne to deliver his horse into retirement at stud. The heartbreak on his face was unmistakable. Bogucki realized at that moment that he could not do a portrait of Secretariat without including this man who had loved him and been closer to him than anyone else. Sweat died of leukemia on April 18. He knew of the project and was happy that he would be a part of the memorial.

Bogucki visited with Turcotte and Sweat to get measurements to insure accuracy in the portrayal of these two men. It was after talking with them about the horse's behavior while racing that he decided on one particular moment after Secretariat had just won the Kentucky Derby to be portrayed in the bronze.

Sweat was leading Secretariat to the winner's circle and he was on his muscle, dancing on his toes and pulling on the lead strap. It was at that moment, with all its power, emotions spirit, and tension, that Bogucki captured in the bronze. Looking at it, every horseman recognizes that moment when a horse is so full of himself that he can barely be restrained. Both Turcotte and Sweat had told Bogucki how Secretariat had come off the track at Churchill Downs after the Derby and lunged against their restraints repeatedly, almost dragging Sweat all the way to the winner's circle.

Because Secretariat became such a cultural icon, the one racehorse whose name everyone seems to recognize, tax deductible donations for the project are being sought from the public as well as from private and corporate sources. In this way, everyone who was moved or touched in some way by not only his amazing racing feats, but also by the remarkable charisma he displayed to the thousands of secweb3z.jpg (16231 bytes) visitors who came to Claiborne Farm to see him after his retirement, can contribute and feel a part of the memorial.

The project is being coordinated with Triple Crown Production's 25th Anniversary Celebration of Secretariat's Triple Crown victory. Ed Seigenfeld and Triple Crown Productions are on the committee as well as Carl Pascarella; Robert and Beverly Lewis; Penny Chenery; James E. Bassett III; Joe Hirsch; Lucien Laurin; Ron Turcotte; D. G. Van Clief, Jr.; John C. Harris; Pope McClean; Dell Hancock; Ed Bowen; Fred Fregin, VMD; Michael Cavey, DVM; John Nicholson; Bill Cooke; Marianna Haun; and Chris Lincoln.

Donations will be handled through the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, a 501 C (3) non-profit organization. ( tax indentification #62-1257717)

For more information e-mail khp@mis.net, see the web page at http://www.imh.org/imh/secr.html, or call (800) 568 8813 ext. 231. Tax deductible contributions to the project can be sent to:

The Kentucky Horse Park Foundation
Secretariat Bronze Project
4089 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, Kentucky 40511